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Et cetera: Love and a bullet

Hard drives for the PS2 (and AOL too!), more video game violence, and OMG HUGE …

Sony announced plans to ship a 40 GB hard drive for the PlayStation 2. The US$99 drive will have Final Fantasy XI preloaded, and will also include an MP3 player and photo viewer. An already-demoed version of AOL for the PS2 will follow later in the year.

According to a study by the Business Software Alliance, college students are increasingly likely to download pirated software. The BSA lays the blame at the feet of university administrators who do not take a hard-enough stance against piracy.

Yet Another Video Game Violence Study: 71% of U.S. teenage boys (and 34% of girls) have played Grand Theft Auto, according to a recent Gallup Poll. Additionally, of surveyed boys who had been in an actual fight over the past year, 34% had played GTA while 17% had not. Interesting stats, but correlation != causation.

Just in case you are running out of hard drive space (especially if you're an ethically-challenged college student with GBs of violent video games, illegally-downloaded warez, movies, MP3s, and porn), Seagate announced the first hard drive capable of holding 100 GB of data on a single 3.5" platter. The 200 GB Baracuda 7200.7 will ship with the choice of a Parallel ATA or Serial ATA interface.

Even the way you sleep provides insight into your personality. British sleep researcher Chris Idzikowski has identified six common sleep positions which reflect the personalities of the sleepers. Not listed in the study is the "sleeping crammed into the 6 inches of bed left to me by my wife and daughter."